Letters to the Editor for Friday, Sep. 6

Letters to the Editor for Friday, Sep. 6

During the recent storm, there’s been much talk about price gouging. It seems to me if you purchase something for a dollar and I sell it for $25, this is also a price gouging. Maybe we ought to look into this and advise the governor that the license plate fee is certainly price gouging.
Richard Schaeffer
Schenectady

Editorial cast GE in an unfavorable light

The Daily Gazette recently ran an editorial on the lawsuit filed by the governor and state attorney general concerning GE’s $1.7 billion clean-up of the Hudson River.
The editorial compared filing the lawsuit to a victims impact statement. Victim impact statements are serious business where the court hears from the victim or victim’s family about the type of punishment they would like to see carried out.
I don’t think it is fair to compare the state’s lawsuit to a panel evaluating criminal penalties.
GE never violated any law with regard to the Hudson River. The company took on a clean-up project despite the fact that hundreds of other companies and municipalities contributed to the river’s current condition over many years. GE spent $1.7 billion on the clean-up. The federal EPA reviewed the results of this effort and issued a certificate of completion. The state took part in the cleanup every step of the way but after the fact decided to challenge the EPA’s finding that the clean-up was properly completed.
This is a civil lawsuit filed by one regulatory agency against another not GE. For The Daily Gazette to toss out a comparison to a victim’s impact statement is really off base.
Let’s not forget that GE is a major employer in Schenectady and the Capital Region. The Gazette editorial cast the company in an unfavorable light. This is not exactly helpful to our collective efforts to retain GE jobs and attract company investment to Schenectady.
Gary McCarthy
Schenectady
The writer is the mayor of Schenectady.

Assault weapons support is irrational

I am writing in response to the spurious hackneyed Hannity talking points presented by Mr. Jeffrey Falace in his Aug. 31 letter (“Shooters are to blame for shootings.”) Firstly, Seth Ator, the most recent Texas killer did not use “the knife, the hammer, the sharp spoon” in his murderous rampage. He selected an AR-15, a rife designed to inflict maximum carnage in a minimum amount of time, hence the weapon of choice of mass shooters.
Secondly, the “very draconian gun regulations” in Illinois are of no concern to gang bangers. They can easily drive to Indiana and legally purchase, either directly or through a shadow buyer, all the firepower they want and then drive back to Chicago. It’s a shame it doesn’t fit the Republican narrative.
And lastly, your pea shooters cannot possibly prevent a military takeover by a tyrannical government. A drone armed with a miniaturized warhead can vaporize you, your guns and Schenectady.
Get real (and rational).
Paul Sator
Gloversville